I've listed a few of those places in Winter Bird Watching on San Francisco Bay (below). It's by no means a comprehensive guide, but it's a place to start if you want to appreciate the full bounty of what happens here in our wildlife winters. If you haven't been out to take a look, it's a brilliant way to spend a few hours. Fresh air, stunning scenery, and often wall-to-wall birds along the shore.
If you read historical accounts of San Francisco Bay, you may find mention of birds so thick in the air, they obscured the sky. We had sea otters in the Bay, and elk roaming about where Coyote Hills Regional Park now sits. Those dramatic scenes were largely decimated through overzealous hunting and, of course, habitat encroachment which continues to strain the capacity of native species to survive -- to rightfully coexist with us.
Fortunately, the value of San Francisco Bay as wildlife habitat is an increasingly viable meme. Enthusiasm for non-lethal wildlife activities -- wildlife viewing, bird watching, and wildlife photography -- is growing consistently. And the restoration of salt ponds and marsh areas as habitat areas is a vigorous pursuit around the bay. You can read about the large South Bay Salt Pond Restoration project at the official website.
To learn more or get involved with issues related to our bay's health, check out Save the Bay and Baykeeper.
Morgan Spurlock and Hunting
For an interesting and open-minded take on the hunting and animal rights issue, take a look at this episode from Morgan Spurlock's show 30 Days. A lifelong hunter chooses to live with a vegan, activist family for 30 days. Unlike shows like Wife Swap which are obviously designed to bring out the worst in human nature, the producers of 30 Days chose thoughtful individuals on both sides to represent the inevitable character arc that occurs.
(It's also a good video to watch if you're concerned about farm animal abuse and Proposition 2. The show addresses some of those issues in a poignant and admittedly heartbreaking way. Let's just say that it was farm animal treatment which helped sway hunter George toward an understanding of animal rights.)